Hong Kong’s Elephant Week returns

This year’s Elephant Week in Hong Kong will be held from November 8-19 and feature a special Gala Dinner at the Island Shangri-La hotel on Friday, November 18. Tickets for the dinner are HK$2,250 each, with a 10 per cent discount for table bookings for 8-12 people.

After the challenges of the last couple of years, the Gala Dinner evening promises to be an exciting one with a focus on lions, messages from the African bush and an auction plus a host of other ways in which to support,” said Colin Dawson, founder and Director of The Elephant Foundation, and one of Asia’s leading yacht insurance specialists (click for column).

Guests at the Elephant Week Gala Dinner in 2019

The guest of honour is Richard Turere, a young Maasai warrior from the outskirts of the Nairobi National Park. At the age of 13, he invented Lionlights and he will be talking about this, the difference it has made to farmers and lions, as well as his journey since the invention, where he has inspired people with his story and determination to protect wildlife.

Following his invention, Turere gained a scholarship to one of Nairobi’s top schools followed by a further scholarship to university in Kigali. He recently graduated with a Second Class Honours degree in Global Challenges, with money raised by earlier Elephant Week Gala Dinners funding the parts of his tertiary education that his scholarship didn’t.

The Elephant Week Gala Dinner at Island Shangri-La in 2019

During the extended Elephant Week, Turere and Dawson will also visit 15-20 schools in Hong Kong plus corporates and other groups.

Dawson added: “Like elephants, we don’t stand still and we need support for our future endeavours including education here and in Africa, providing for rangers in the field of duty, looking after orphaned elephants and support for Africa’s largest animal relocation programme.”

Elephant Week visit to Harbour School in 2019

The Elephant Foundation is a Hong Kong charity set up to educate people in Hong Kong about the poaching of endangered species and the illegal wildlife trade, much of which comes through Hong Kong.

It works to help those on the ground in Africa, both protecting the wildlife and living with it as well as education funding for youth there with a view to giving them a better future. Each year, it aims to hold an Elephant Week showcasing its work and bringing an inspirational person involved with conservation in Africa to Hong Kong to discuss their experiences.

www.theelephantsociety.org